Η χρήση του Internet από τους Γάλλους
(Απρίλιος 2006)
Espresso Points

Περίπου 26 εκατομμύρια Γάλλοι χρησιμοποίησαν το Διαδίκτυο το Δεκέμβριο 2005,
αντιπροσωπεύοντας το 43% του πληθυσμού.

Μέχρι το 2008 υπολογίζεται ότι 33,1 εκατομμύρια Γάλλοι θα χρησιμοποιούν το Διαδίκτυο.

Το προφίλ των Γάλλων χρηστών του Διαδικτύου έχει ως εξής:
o
o
o
o
o

54% είναι άντρες
52% είναι μικρότερο των 35 ετών
40% είναι ανώτατα στελέχη
23% μένει στο Παρίσι
18% είναι μαθητές
Τουλάχιστον 9 στους 10 χρήστες του Διαδικτύου (ποσοστό που αντιστοιχεί σε 18.8 εκατομμύρια
ανθρώπους) επισκέφθηκαν το 2ο εξάμηνο του 2005 έστω και μια μηχανή αναζήτησης.

Για το 2ο εξάμηνο του 2005, οι 5 top μηχανές αναζήτησης ήταν οι εξής: Google, Wanadoo/Voila,
MSN, Yahοo! και AOL.

Το 83% των Γάλλων που χρησιμοποιούν το Διαδίκτυο, έχουν πρόσβαση σε αυτό από το σπίτι.

Το 60% των Γάλλων χρηστών έχει πραγματοποιήσει κάποια ηλεκτρονική κράτηση προϊόντων ή
υπηρεσιών τουλάχιστον μια φορά τους τελευταίους 6 μήνες.

Η πλειοψηφία των online αγοραστών είναι άντρες, ηλικιακά κυμαίνονται από 25 έως 49 ετών, ενώ
ως κυριότερο λόγο των online αγορών αναφέρουν τις ανταγωνιστικές τιμές.

Η πιο δημοφιλής κατηγορία προϊόντων/υπηρεσιών που αγοράζονταν online, ήταν τα αεροπορικά
εισιτήρια, καθώς και τα εισιτήρια πλοίων & τρένων (για την περίοδο Ιανουάριος – Ιούνιος 2005).

Οι 3 πιο δημοφιλείς σε επισκεψιμότητα ταξιδιωτικές/τουριστικές ιστοσελίδες ήταν το voyages-
sncf.com, το Lastminute.com και το Opodo.

Τον Ιανουάριο 2006, περίπου 16 εκατομμύρια Γάλλοι, ηλικίας 11 ετών και άνω, είχαν πρόσβαση
στο Διαδίκτυο από το σπίτι τους με συνδέσεις broadband. Σε σύγκριση με στοιχεία του Ιανουαρίου
2005, ο αριθμός αυτός αυξήθηκε κατά 52%.
1
Using the Internet in France
(according to the new media review of the European Travel Commission)
Demographics

There were 26,214,174 Internet users in France (representing 43.0% of the population) in
December 2005, according to Internet World Stats.(Internet World Stats, December 2005)

28.8 million Internet users were estimated in France at the end of 2005, according to
eTForecasts. This represented 2.7% of the total number of internet users worldwide. The number
was up from 25.47 million in 2004. (eTForecasts, January 2006)

There will be 33.1 million Internet users in France by 2008, according to eMarketer.
(eMarketer, July 2005)

In January 2006, 26,716,000 French people aged 11 and over had had access to the Internet
during the previous month (from all locations), according to (. This represented 51.6% of the
population aged 11 and over. Since January 2005, the number of Internet users in France has
increased by 11%, from 24,144,000 to 26,716,000 in January 2006. (Médiamétrie –
L’Observatoire des usages Internet – Janvier 2006, March 2006)

The growth in the number of Internet users in France accelerated in 2005, with an annual growth
of 14% compared to an annual growth of 10% the previous year. At the end of 2005, there were
23.4 million Internet users aged 15 and over in France, representing 48% of the population,
according to the results of the 16th Edition of Ipsos “Profiling” Study.
The profile of French Internet users tends to mirror the population as a whole, but there are
distinct differences:
o
o
o
o
o

54% are male (against 48% among the overall population)
52% are under 35 years old (against 28% among the overall population)
40% are “Cadre Supérieur” (highly-qualified professionals in senior positions)
(against 22% among the overall population)
18% are students (against 11% among the overall population)
23% live in the Paris region (against 19% of the overall population).
(Ipsos Média, January 2006)
82% of those aged 13-17 in France and 81% of those aged 18-24 claimed to have connected to
the Internet at least once during the last quarter of 2005. More than half of those aged 13-17,
connect every day or almost everyday.
Internet users aged 13-24 account for more than 7.5 million people, representing almost a third
of all French Internet users. (Médiamétrie, January 2006)

More than 9 out of 10 Internet users in France (or 18.8 million people) visited at least 1 search
engine in the second quarter of 2005.
To get access to websites, French Internet users now use in majority search engines instead of
direct access (such as via “their favourites folder” or by typing directly the URL of the site).
Hence, in May 2005, more than 4 out of 10 visits (43%) in a site came from a search engine,
compared to 36% in May 2004.
In the second quarter of 2005, the top 5 search engines were:
1. Google: 16,574,000
2. Wanadoo/Voila: 8,137,000
3. MSN: 7,572,000
2
4. Yahoo!: 5,554,000
5. AOL: 1,857,000
The search of Internet users include in 6 out of 10 searches of more than 1 keyword. The signs
such as * and “” which allow to conduct advanced research are used in less than 2% of
searches. (Médiamétrie//NetRatings, November 2005)
Access

There were 17,466,601 active home Internet users in France in February 2006, according to
Nielsen//NetRatings. This was up 3.34% compared to the previous month. (ClickZ.com,
March 2006)

In the fourth quarter of 2005, 9,532,000 households in France had access to the Internet,
according to Médiamétrie. This represented about 37.7% of the total number of households in
the country. This compares to 8,983,000 online households in the third quarter of 2005
(representing 35.5% of all household). (Médiamétrie / GfK – La Référence des Equipements
Multimédias – 4ème Trimestre 2005, March 2006)

The Internet continues to be used in various locations, according to the results of the 16th
Edition of Ipsos “Profiling” Study. The distribution by location of access is similar to the one
recorded 6 months ago:
o 83% claim to have home Internet access
o 39% have Internet access at work
o 19% from the home of a friend/relative
o 11% from school/university
o 7% from public places such as Internet cafes etc.
39% of Internet users claimed that during the last 30 days they went online from at least two
locations while 10% claimed that they went online from at least three locations. (Ipsos Média,
January 2006)
Gender

According to the results of the 16th Edition of Ipsos “Profiling” Study:
o 56% of Internet users connecting to the Internet exclusively from home are men.
o 43% of Internet users connecting to the Internet exclusively from work are men.
(Ipsos Média, January 2006)
E-Commerce

France is a nation of accomplished online shoppers who research their purchases online with
more than half of all Internet users having made an online purchase. Even in the fourth quarter
of 2004, almost 45% of Internet users in France, or 10.6 million individuals, were buying
products online, according to research sponsored by ACSEL. The number of online buyers
increased at an annual rate of 28% in 2004 and 54% in 2003.
Retail e-commerce (including leisure travel) will be worth US$70.7 billion in France by 2008,
according to the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) and IDC. This figure
will be up from US$14.2 billion in 2005.(eMarketer, March 2006)

60% of French Internet users have booked products or services at least once online
during the last 6 months, according to the results of the 16th Edition of Ipsos “Profiling”
Study. This represents twice as much as four years ago.
Among those online shoppers:
o 45% booked online at least once a month.
3
o
o

30% booked online once every 3 month.
25% booked online less often than that.
(Ipsos Média, January 2006)
About 6 out of 10 Internet users in France have bought something online during the last 6
months. The results of the 15th Edition of the Profiling Study by Ipsos highlight the
progression of e-commerce in France. The findings show that in June 2005, 59% of Internet
users in the country claimed to have bought, booked or reserved a product or service online
during the last 6 months. This is up from 52% in June 2004 and the rate is about 6 times the
1999 rate.
Almost half of online buyers buy online at least once a month. The majority of those frequent
buyers are male, are aged between 25-49 years old, have a high purchasing power and have
broadband Internet access.
The main reasons motivating people to buy online are:
o The access to competitive prices (34%)
o The fact that they do not have to go out to buy (30%)
o The fact that they can buy at any moment of the day (15%)
o The large choice of products and services (12%)
o The simplicity of it all (9%)
This Profiling Study has been conducted by Ipsos since 1998. (Ipsos Média, July 2005)

e-commerce is increasingly popular in France with the number of online buyers increasing 3
times faster than the number of Internet users, according to research conducted in March 2005
by Médiamétrie//NetRatings on behalf of the FEVAD.
The findings show that almost half (47%) of Internet users in the country in the first quarter of
2005 had bought a product or service online compared to only 39% during the first quarter of
2004.
The report indicates that France is continuing to catch up with the 3 leading countries in
Europe in terms of e-commerce (the UK, Germany and Sweden). France is the European
country which enjoyed the highest e-commerce growth rate during the last year with a 32%
increase from the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005.
This growth is also accompanied by an increased confidence in the Internet as a purchasing
tool with 49.6% of French Internet users now claiming that they are confident with it.
The findings also show that women are increasingly buying online. Their number has
increased by 38% between the first quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005, now reaching
5.1 million. The report indicates that it is now among the over 50 age group that there is the
most growth potential in terms of online buying; currently they only represent 17.3% of the
online buyer population although they represent 39.8% of the total population. (FEVAD –
Médiamétrie/NetRatings, July 2005)
Online Travel Market
Travel Planning

36.2% of Internet users in France visited travel websites in the last 30 days, according to
the results of the 16th Edition of Ipsos “Profiling” Study. (Ipsos Média, January 2006)

The Internet is increasingly used as a source of information to then buy the product or service
off-line, according to the results of the 16th Edition of Ipsos “Profiling” Study. For example in
the travel sector:
o 41% of Internet users have looked for information on transport tickets.
o 29% for information on short/long holidays and tours.
4
o
o

23% for information on hotels.
10% for information on car hire.
(Ipsos Média, January 2006)
The Internet is the preferred method of obtaining travel information amongst Internet users in
France in 2005, according to a survey undertaken by GMI.
o Web search: 64%
o Personal recommendation: 36%
o Travel agent’s office: 19%
o Other method: 8%
o TV program: 7%
o Newspaper: 5%
(eMarketer, July 2005)
Travel Booking

France remained the third largest online travel market in Europe in 2004, accounting for 12%
of the European online travel market, according to the study (updated in November 2005)
“Trends in European Internet Distribution – of Travel and Tourism Services” by Carl H.
Marcussen (Centre for Regional and Tourism Research). (Full material updated 29th
November 2005 is available at http://www.crt.dk/trends, November 2005)

The top 5 most visited e-commerce websites in the category Travel/Tourism in France
during the third quarter of 2005 were:
1. voyages-sncf.com: 7,963,000 (39% market share)
2. Lastminute.com: 3,495,000 (17%)
3. Expedia: 2,981,000 (15%)
4. Promovacances: 2,502,000 (12%)
5. Opodo: 2,303,000 (11%)
(Médiamétrie//NetRatings, November 2005)

In June 2005, travel tickets were the most popular products bought online in France, according
to the results of the 15th Edition of the Profiling Study by Ipsos.
In June 2005, the 10 most popular categories of products and services bought online
during the last 6 months were:
o Train, flight, ferry tickets: 40%
o CD/DVD: 32%
o Books: 25%
o IT products including software: 25%
o Fashion and accessories: 22%
o Events/Shows: 15%
o Hotel reservations: 14%
o Stereo/Video/phone: 12%
o Beauty products: 11%
o Flowers: 7%
Purchases are more and more diversified with 23% of online buyers claiming to have bought
products from 4 different categories during the last 6 months.
56% of Internet users claimed that most of the time they buy train/flight or ferry tickets offline after having searched for information online, while 41% claimed to do that for holidays or
tours, 35% for hotel reservations, 27% for events/shows and 13% for car rentals. (Ipsos
Média, July 2005)

Almost 80% of people in France use the Internet as part of the process of buying travel and
tourism products. 68.3% of people interviewed said that they buy travel and tourism products
online, according to research conducted in March 2005 by Médiamétrie//NetRatings on behalf
5
of the FEVAD. In addition, 11.3% indicates that they search information on travel & tourism
products online but bought them off-line. (FEVAD – Médiamétrie/NetRatings, July 2005)
Travel Industry Online Developments

The top 10 travel sites in France in terms of audience according to research conducted in
March 2005 by Médiamétrie//NetRatings on behalf of the FEVAD were as follows:
1. voyages-sncf.com: 4,579,000 unique visitors
2. Lastminute.com: 1,380,000
3. Opodo: 1,202,000
4. Expedia: 1,104,000
5. Anyway.com: 1,036,000
6. Promovacances: 724,000
7. Nouvelles Frontières: 576,000
8. PartirPasCher: 474,000
9. Ebookers: 369,000
10. Marmara: 268,000
(FEVAD – Médiamétrie/NetRatings, July 2005)

Opodo announced that it has acquired the French Internet travel agency Vivacances.
Vivacances is a key player in the French online travel market and enjoys a special relationship
with Galerie Lafayette’s S'Miles loyalty programme whereby eleven million French
households can "earn and burn" points as they shop online.
The travel portal was launched in 2002 and offers the full range of travel products including
flights, hotels, car hire, trains and package holidays. The company has achieved excellent
growth rates - up 276% in the first quarter 2005 compared with the same period in 2004.
France is the second largest and one of the fastest growing European markets for online travel
with EUR 7 billion gross sales forecast to be sold in 2005. The Opodo companies in France
reflect this growth as they continue to go from strength to strength. In the first quarter of 2005,
Opodo.fr experienced a 96% growth compared to Q1 2004. (TravelDailyNews, July 2005)
Broadband Access

In January 2006, 15,983,000 French people aged 11 and over had accessed the Internet at
home with broadband connections, according to Médiamétrie. This represented about
82.6% of at home Internet users. Since January 2005, the number of Internet users going
online from home with broadband connections in France increased by 52%.
The number of French people aged 11 and over with broadband Internet access at home has
increased from 10.490,000 (67.7%) in January 2005 to the 15,983,000 in January 2006 as
indicated above. (Médiamétrie – L’Observatoire des usages Internet – Janvier 2006, March
2006)

Like the UK and Germany, France has opened its formerly monopolistic telecommunications
market to competitors, and the results have been spectacular, according to a report by
eMarketer “French Connections: The Triple Play Triumphs”.
France Telecom now shares the market with a number of DSL providers who offer broadbandbased phone (VoIP) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services for less money.
Broadband penetration in France has been booming since liberalization of the
telecommunications market took off in 2004, and more than 75% of all Internet users in the
country now have broadband access.
Broadband users in France by access technology in Q3 2005:
o ADSL subscriptions: 7,900,000 (up from 5,062,800 in Q3 2004)
o Cable subscriptions: 530,000 (up from 433,600 in Q3 2004)
6
o
Other high-speed subscriptions (WLL, fiber optics etc.): 5,000 (up from Q3 2004)
Already, thanks to this newly competitive market, three out of the ten largest broadband
providers in Western Europe are based in France.
Up to 40% of all French consumers will use VoIP by the end of 2006, according to France
Telecom. Looking globally, Insight Express projects that VoIP will grow steadily, reaching
nearly $100 billion in worldwide revenues by 2012. (eMarketer, March 2006)

Within the past three years, French Internet users have overwhelmingly switched to
broadband. Moreover, they are making a giant leap away from traditional switched telephone
service and cable/over-the-air television, and are subscribing to these services from their ISPs.
Just over half of the French population is online, and more than 75% of those users have
broadband access, according to eMarketer. Competition to provide French consumers Internet
access and Internet-based phone, TV and even wireless services is transforming the market.
These wholesale shifts to new technologies in France are much more rapid than advances in
the US.
51.8% of households will have broadband Internet access in France by 2008, up from 32.8%
in 2005, according to eMarketer. (eMarketer, March 2006)
7